ChemChina gets OK for Syngenta deal

ChemChina has won EU antitrust approval for its $43bn takeover of Swiss pesticide maker Syngenta, paving the way for China’s largest overseas acquisition to date. The EU’s approval is conditional on ChemChina’s agreeing to divest “a significant part” of its Adama unit’s pesticide business, some generic pesticides the unit is developing, a plant growth regulator and some of Syngenta’s pesticides along with related assets and personnel, the European Commission said in an e-mailed statement. The takeover, which was first announced a year ago, is one of three mega-deals that would reshape the global agrochemicals industry, along with Dow Chemical’s bid to merge with DuPont and Bayer AG’s attempt to purchase Monsanto, for which it is still waiting approval. If all three deals go ahead, the sector would be dominated by one American, one German and one Chinese multinational.